Thrilling Crime & Sci-Fi Fiction

Menu

Motive X is most definitely a story which starts in the middle. Amid the multiple plotlines there lurks a self-contained mystery of grisly killings, but that plot is almost overwhelmed by the series’ ongoing themes: the catastrophic domestic situation of police detective Fabian Risk and his dysfunctional family; the catastrophic personal life of his boss…

Hardboiled Brit crime, an American classic, a medical thriller, a swift slice of satisfying savagery, an old-fashioned private-eye investigation and an FBI serial killer profiler – settle down for this month’s selection of half a dozen different approaches to the crime-thriller genre… THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy Yes, this is the famous post-apocalyptic Great American…

The Killing Sisters trilogy of compelling crime-thrillers is once again complete! The titles were unavailable for a short while, but now all three books are back on the shelves at Amazon in paperback and ebook editions. Mixing calculating killers and pitch-black wit, the story starts in A Last Act Of Charity. We meet jaded assassin and…

I came to this book having no idea what to expect, aside from what’s mentioned in the synopsis. You learn that it features a terrorist attack which takes place in Britain; there are persons in command such as the authorities; religion and action with a twist of violence. Seven Hells is targeted at readers who…

The short stories in this anthology provide a sometimes spiky slice of stylish writing from 28 assorted authors; some of them well-known names in the crime genre but many unfamiliar to me. They each take a different tack to interpret the central theme. Many inevitably showcase criminals doing the wrong thing for all kinds of…

Once Norwegian, now a self-governing Danish province, the remote Faroe Islands form an isolated community with its own, unique culture. The perfect setting for a new thriller, which seems to be targeted more at crime enthusiasts who enjoy Shetland mysteries rather than readers who typically enjoy translated books from Scandinavian authors. Devil’s Fjord is written…

Serial killers, cosy crime and Nordic noir: it’s all in our selection of murder and mystery featuring top-flight writers, exciting indie authors and a few new names you should definitely get to know. The action tracks between gritty BritCrime, the Russian mafia, Los Angeles in wartime, a typically English mystery, Weimar Berlin and small-town Sweden.…

Although it’s set in Sweden, this ripping thriller has more in common with mainstream American crime-fiction than the typical thoughtful, slow-burn Scandi crime. It’s all about the action and less about atmosphere – a fast-paced ensemble investigation, not a moody, windswept sonnet to the isolated solitude of the Nordic spirit. It’s certainly a lot more…

This gargantuan beast of a book concludes a story arc which began some six volumes ago in The Wolf In Winter. Far from being bare bones, A Book Of Bones is an extended, immersive and intense reading experience which delightfully disrupts commercial publishing conventions. For one thing, this is a 700 page epic – a…

A genre-blending, boundary-bending combination of high concept science, mythic mystery and high-tech thriller, Outsourced explores the practical possibilities of quantum entanglement when applied to the cold-blooded actions of a contract killer. It starts with a splendid scenario – the authorities know that the hitman standing trial has committed hundreds of murders, but he’s totally Teflon.…

Kennedy. JFK. The words inevitably scream out ‘assassination’ — then ‘controversy’, ‘conspiracy’. There can be nothing new to say on the subject, surely? RJ Ellory has a lot that’s new to say, and he says it with magnificent effectiveness in Three Bullets. You’ve read the blurb (it’s below, in case you missed it), so I’ll…

Long before it was fashionable to write detective fiction set in Nazi Germany, Philip Kerr created his Berlin Noir trilogy. That series established an entire genre and inspired a generation of crime writers to set their stories not in Agatha Christie’s golden age of the English upper class but instead in Berlin’s sleazy backstreets. Unlike…